


Little Brother Found: Who helps the outcast Sequel

by GreyWolfGhost



Series: Criminal Minds A/U [2]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Criminals, Behavioral Analysis Unit (Criminal Minds), Big Brothers, Boarding School, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Gen, Growing Up, Half-Siblings, Las Vegas, New Family, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Older Brothers, Protective Siblings, Sequel, To Be Continued, Virginia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2019-04-02
Packaged: 2019-08-06 05:40:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16382441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreyWolfGhost/pseuds/GreyWolfGhost
Summary: Following the events in Las Vegas that nearly killed him and introduced him to his older half brother Spencer. Paris Smith-Reid finds himself in Virginia, attending his dream school, reconnecting with the brother he never knew he had, and growing up all while being the younger brother of an FBI agent and the ups and downs that go with that. The BAU will become his extended family and Paris will grow up striving to be an agent with the FBI, just like his older brother.Please have read Who helps the outcasts first. This fic is not complete.





	1. Chapter 1

                                                                                                                 August 15th 2006  
                                                                                                                        x-x-x-x-x

 

                                                                              

 

"We made sure you were on a direct flight so you don't have to worry about changing planes ok?"

"Thanks Uncle Eric," Paris said softly, looking apprehensively at the large terminal before him. He hated to fly, actually was terrified of it was the better phrase, he was especially nervous about flying alone.

"Are you sure you're going to be all right Paris?" Lori asked kneeling in front of him,

"That's right kid, it's not to late to change flights if you'd feel better with us going." Paris made a face and shook his head

"I'll be ok." He replied looking down the terminal again.

"Spencer is going to meet you at the airport, if you don't see him do not wander ok kid?" Eric gave him a look

"What, do I look insane to you?" Paris shot back with a grin. Lori reached forward and hugged him close

"I'm not ready to let you go." She whispered

"Empty nest syndrome Aunt Lori?" Paris asked with a sly grin, she responded by hugging him tighter

"Um, honey I think you're suffocating him." Eric spoke up,

"Janet at school is hard enough, but she's close, I'm not ready for Paris to be 2,000 miles from us!"

"2,452 miles actually" Paris said before thinking, he could see tears welling up in Lori's eyes and reached forward to hug her tight "sorry Aunt Lori, not helping huh?"

"It's ok Paris, I'm just going to miss you so much." Eric took her hand gently

"Honey, he's going to miss his flight, he still has to go through security." Lori nodded and reached over to grab Paris again kissing his cheek

"I love you,"

"Love you too Auntie Lori." Paris replied as she finally released him, Eric reached over and put a hand on Paris's shoulder leading him away

"I'll be right back, I'll make sure he gets through ok." The pair walked to the metal detectors. Paris froze mid step Eric looked at him confused "Xander?"

"They're not gonna make me take…" Eric saw where Paris was going and chuckled, before shaking his head

"I don't think you have to worry about that, you do have to take your shoes off pal." They reached the metal detectors and the guard instructed Paris what he needed to do, quickly Paris slipped off his watch, his glasses and his medical bracelet and with his wallet and cell phone put these into the basket while the guard waved the wand over him carefully.

"No carry-ons?" the guard asked looking at Eric

"Just this backpack." Eric replied stepping forward and handing it to the guard, he lowered his voice so Paris couldn't hear and showed his LVPD badge. "He's my nephew, going away to school in Virginia, his aunt and I got him a laptop for school but it's a congratulation gift that we want him to open on the plane. You can check the whole thing, just please don't let him see it."

"Going away for school huh?" The guard started "little young for college isn't he?"

"Preparatory school, but he could go to college now if he wants." The guard rubbed his chin thoughtfully as Paris looked back trying to figure out what the hold up was

"No problem, he's going to have to wait a few minutes while I look it through."

"Uncle Eric?" Paris called, panic quickly replacing his curiosity."

"It's ok Paris, they just have to check your backpack."

Paris settled down in his seat and watched as the other passengers boarded the plane. He felt his heart pick up speed as the time moved closer to the plan taxiing out, he hated flying, he was literally terrified of it. His anxiety was so strong that Leslie nearly had to cancel their half of the family vacation with Eric, Lori, and Janet to Disney World when Paris was six.

So Eric and Lori were extremely surprised that Paris hadn't minded taking the flight to Virginia alone. What they didn't realize was deep down, Paris knew he had to do this, and he had to do it alone.

Alone he had begun researching the schools, after of course finding information on private schools on the East coast. Finding that information had been a rare chance, he had found Leslie's old computer and had remembered that one of his favorite games was saved on the machine. Turning the system on and surfing around, Paris had found a word document labeled Private schools.

The more research Paris did, the more he came to realize that Leslie had been planning on moving them east as soon as his adoption papers were cleared. He knew she loved the ocean and water in general and wasn't fond of the desert, especially the heat that came with it. Her company was all over the country so a transfer would have been simple, but Paris couldn't believe she was willing to leave Eric and Lori, but it had to be true, she was looking at house listings, checking on the private schools.

One school had been highlighted in the computer, the Carlisle School in Virginia. But this school was at least four hours from the beach, which meant, Leslie had been willing to give up her beach home so that Paris could attend a school designed for him.

Though as Paris unearthed, she wouldn't have been completely away from the water given one of the houses on her list of properties was a house right on a small mountain lake in a town about an hour from the school called Penhook.

The house was still up on the site and Paris automatically understood why Leslie would have picked that house. He had felt a pit in his stomach wishing it had actually become theirs. It had three bedrooms on the second floor and a loft overlooking the first two floors, the master bedroom was huge and the other two bedrooms could have easily have served as a guest room and small office/library for the pair's master collection of books.

The first floor had its own office space a large stone fire place in the family room which Leslie would've loved and the cellar was a furnished basement. The house was right on the lake and both the master bedroom and the loft over looked it. The kitchen was perfect size for Leslie to do all her cooking experiments and so much space all around that Paris knew he could've persuaded his mom to let him get a dog, a big dog for that matter.

Knowing that his going to this school was what she wanted for him, Paris did all he could to get in. He retook the IQ test with support of his brother, he began applying and bugging the school to send him the application and the biggest thing of all he begged his brother take partial custody of him, even though that proved to be the easiest part of the entire situation.

That had also been the most important part, the Williamsons had been fighting Paris's caseworker for months nearly a year and she wasn't budging. If Spencer hadn't agreed as a blood relative to take custody of Paris, he wouldn't be going to Carlisle. As long as Paris was considered a foster kid he wouldn't be able to go to any school outside of Nevada, even though the Williamsons had been trying desperately to adopt him which would have changed everything. But with a blood relative stepping forward, Paris was instantly taken out of the foster system and the Williamsons and Spencer agreed to joint custody to get Paris out of the system.

And now here he sat, on a plane, as it prepared to taxi out, taking him to Virginia to be with his half brother and attend a school his mom, his real mom not his birth mom wanted him to be at.

The flight attendants went down the aisle making sure everyone's seats were fastened and seeing how nervous Paris was, she paid especial attention to him and would so throughout the flight.

When the plane had finally taxied out, Paris held his breath as the plane began its trip down the runway before taking off into the clear sky. Positive he was going to regret this decision, Paris leaned over and looked out the small oval shaped window, looking down at the city he had called home for his entire life.

It was actually kind of cool and as the plane went higher, the city became harder and harder to see, for a second Paris wished he had a nighttime flight. He had never seen Vegas from high up at night before and knew it would be a great sight.

Once the plane had leveled and the seat belt light disappeared, Paris was offered a soda by the stewardess and told he could use electronics now.

Curious as to why Eric had told him he couldn't look in his backpack until he was in the air, Paris reached under his seat and pulled his bag out. He slowly unzipped the main compartment unsure what he was going to find. Needless to say, he was shocked to see a laptop computer, he couldn't help the 'cool' that slipped out as he turned it on.

It was instant start up and once it had gone to the log in screen, Paris grinned and clicked the image of a chess piece.

The usual programs were on the start up screen and Paris had been about to click on the games icon when a folder caught his attention. 'Paris, read first' it was labeled and Paris used the touch pad to open the folder.

Inside were a few photo and video documents, but it was the word document that was titled 'Me first'. Taking a deep breath Paris opened the file. It was a note from Janet, typed in pink and purple font and in a cursive style.

'Paris, I knew you'd learn to follow directions eventually glad you didn't get distracted by the game icon, but before you start whining, I loaded all your favorite games on here and they are all in your CD slip case. Dad wanted me to type this up for you. Hopefully while you are reading this, Nevada is far below you and the rest of the country is out in front. If there is no one seated next to you, put this computer on the seat and reach into your backpack, if someone is sitting there, figure it out, you need to get something out of your backpack.'

Really confused, Paris did as Janet instructed, no one was seated next to him, so he gently lay the laptop on the cushion and reached into his backpack. His fingers brushed up against a pair of headphones, brand new noise canceling headphones from Bose. A grin swept over his face as he admired them for a second, before putting them on and opening his computer again.

'Ok, now stop admiring them and put them on…are they on? Good, plug them in.' Paris rolled his eyes and did this.

'Now, your mission if you should choose to complete it is as follows. Minimize this document and open up the first video document next to this…' Paris raised an eyebrow and kept reading 'kid, what I told you, minimize this sucker already, at this rate you'll be in Virginia by the time you figure this out. I thought you were some super genius kid what happened to that IQ of what, 183?'

Paris minimized the document and double clicked on the video labeled simply 'watch me next.'

It took only a second to load in windows media player and when it did, Paris clicked on the play button on the laptop itself.

Eric and Lori were seated on the front step of their house, it was dusk, the sun was just starting to set…Paris's favorite time of day. Janet must have been holding the camera, because he could hear her giggling in the background, right near the microphone.

"Hi sweetie!" Lori called

"See you found your computer Xander," Eric added

"We wanted to give you a gift as a way of saying congratulations on not only making it into Carlisle, but for how much you have grown up in the last few months. Not just with your decision to go away to school, but the fact that you allowed your true potential to show, something that we are very proud of and your mom would be and is very proud of you for. Leslie knew the minute she saw you that you were a special kid and your happiness and success was all she ever wanted."

"Paris you don't know this, but before you were born, Leslie was going through a rough time. We have decided together that if you are old enough and mature enough to go so far from your comfort zone for school, then you are old enough to hear this. You know of course your grandmother died of breast cancer just two years before you were born, but what you don't know is how depressed Leslie became afterwards. It was not a good time for your mom those years Xander, she was going downhill fast, and we weren't sure what to do, she stopped fostering, took herself off the list. Leslie was planning on moving to Cape Cod just to get away. She found a house on the web and was all set to move."

"I didn't think that that was going to help her and I knew we wouldn't be able to help her so far away." Lori spoke up, smiling at the camera

"And then, two days before she was going to put money down on the house, she got a phone call from her social worker friend Erin Lowe. A baby had just been born four months premature and needed an experienced trustworthy foster parent and Leslie was the first and only person she could think of who she trusted. The mother had given up custody of the baby right before going into labor and so aside from the nurses the baby had no one, not even a proper name. Leslie wasn't ready Paris, not ready to open her heart up to someone, but her friend insisted she at least come in." Eric added

"All babies need to be held and touched, it helps with development and is especially true for premies, so Erin asked if Leslie could just come in and hold the newborn, give him all the attention she could so he would at least have a chance to survive."

"Knowing that was true, Leslie agreed and went into the hospital as a volunteer, nothing more."

"When your mom walked into the NICU she instantly felt drawn to you, she knew you right off the bat and could barely wait to hold you, even if it was just in the palm of her hand, because you were still to small to be held in her arms. It took all of two seconds Paris for her to decide that you belonged with her. It was love at first sight honey she couldn't take her eyes off of you." Lori said softly, a tear rolling down her face.

"Paris, we never told you how lucky you were to have survived. When we first met you, a few days after you were born you were the tiniest thing any of us had ever seen. Barely bigger than my eyeglass case, you were in an incubator and on a ventilator. But you were a fighter, you were determined to live and you did just that, you proved all the doctors wrong."

"What you also don't know Paris is just what you did for your mom. You saved her Paris, just by surviving; you brought her back from depression, she was feeling worthless and useless, it was a subconscious feeling because she couldn't save Aunt Beth, but you showed her that she was needed, better than any of us telling her she was needed, sometimes grownups need to see something for it to be true and this is what you did for your mom. You both needed each other and you both survived because of one another. You were Leslie's world Paris her whole world and we wanted you to know that. She would be so proud of everything you have done and everything you will do."

"We know you feel like you're betraying Leslie's memory by going to your brother. But you are not, get that thought out of your head right now. If Leslie had known what we know now she would have used it to get you further than before. She wanted you to go to a good school and onto a good college, she wanted you to embrace your intelligence and not ignore it or be ashamed of it and by accepting your brother you are doing just that, you are allowing yourself to take the first steps to reach your goals."

"We wanted you to hear all of this because you needed to hear it and Janet suggested it would have a bigger impact on you if we did it this way as opposed to us sitting you down and lecturing you, she figured you'd be less likely to tune us out." Paris chuckled at that and rubbed his eyes a bit.

"We love you Paris wherever you live and whatever you do that will always be true, you are our nephew. When you get to Virginia call Uncle Eric's cell phone and let us know you got there safe and let us know what you think of your new computer. Remember it's not just for school work it's to have fun with too."

"Every now and then you forget that you're a kid, don't forget that ok? You are a kid, so act like it!"

The video faded out, with Eric and Lori waving at the camera and as Paris clicked the video closed, he sighed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a poker chip, Leslie had given it to him as a good luck piece when he was five and on his way to kindergarten it was from Excalibur.

Before his FBI phase, which turned out to be more than just a passing phase, Paris had been enthralled by King Arthur, knights, and medieval things in general. So on top of the toy swords, dragon stuffed animals, crowns, and other things that made up the Arthurian legends, Leslie added the poker chip from Excalibur. She had reminded Paris he couldn't go to his first day dressed in plastic armor and carry a plastic sword and shield, so she gave him the poker chip that way he had something from his knighthood collection, but was something that he could simply keep in his pocket.

Paris had outgrown the knight stuff a few years later, but kept most of the trinkets aside from the plastic toys, including his poker chip.

Now he looked down at the poker chip in his hand, the image of King Arthur's sword and the casinos namesake designed on one side and the name Excalibur on the other.

"Love you mom," he whispered before putting the chip back in his pocket. Sighing and daring to look out the window, Paris shuddered and turned his attention back to the laptop and the CD case that held all his computer games.

 

                                                                                                                                                        


	2. Chapter 2

                                                                          

 

Paris took a deep breath and followed the attendant through the gate and into Ronald Reagan National Airport.

As a minor, he was accompanied by the attendant until he was picked up by the adult meeting him.

"Now," she started "who is meeting you?"

"My brother," Paris answered

They had moved past the gates and out to the baggage claim where Paris grabbed his large rolling suitcase and his body-bag size duffle bag. The one year he had attempted to play hockey had required such a bag for all the equipment. Paris had found it hilarious that he could actually stuff himself inside the bag and be quite comfortable.

Inside both were just the essentials. Most of Paris's belongings had stayed in Nevada, mainly because there was no need to bring it all and secondly from what Spencer had told him, his apartment was not very large.

To Paris he had become a divorced couple's kid with a custody agreement in effect between the Williamsons and Spencer, only both sides were on much better terms.

During the school year, Paris would live at school, except on the few long weekends during the year that he would return home, his home in DC with Spence that is. To save gas Paris decided that unless it was an absolute must, he wouldn't ask to come home that often though Spence assured him that it wasn't a big deal.

Thanksgiving was a week off from school so back to Vegas Paris would go. This coming holiday, Spence was going to, same with Christmas, because it was their first Thanksgiving and Christmas together as a family. Christmas break was two weeks long so Paris would stay the full two weeks, but Spence was only staying a few days. Because of the long Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, Carlisle did not have a February break, but rather a two-week spring break.

But for right now it was summer and Paris had just about a month before his first semester at Carlisle School would begin and just two days to get settled with his brother, before they drove the four hours to Carlisle for his face to face interview with the administrators and headmaster, tour of the campus, meeting with the faculty, and evaluation.

Paris was about to become the second youngest ninth-grader the school had welcomed and the youngest student to ever board at the school. Which was one of the reasons for the interviews even after he had been accepted to the school, the administration wanted to be sure that he was emotionally ready enough to live at school.

Dragging his suitcase, Paris scanned the crowd looking for his brother. Sighing at all the blurry faces, Paris reached into his pocket for his glasses. Since the fire that had nearly killed him, his eyesight had gotten much worse, to the point where anything further than a few feet away blurred together, even with his glasses on it was only a minor improvement.

His heart picked up speed as he scanned the crowd and failed to see his brother, maybe the times had gotten messed up, no way Spence would forget what day he was coming, they both had eidetic memories, impossible to forget stuff. What if the team had been called away on a case and no one would be there to get him?

All these thoughts were running through Paris's head, setting off alarms in his body, when

"Paris!" panic melted away as Paris heard Spence calling him. Through the thick crowd, Paris could see his brother, waving and carefully pushing his way through the crowd.

The attendant leaned down and pointed as Spencer

 

                                                                                            

"Your brother?" Paris nodded "I'm going to have to check his ID, its policy. What's his full name?"

"Spencer Reid," Paris answered, grinning at his brother as he came closer.

"Sir I just need to check you're ID."

Spence gave Paris a half grin and pulled out his wallet which Paris knew contained his FBI badge. He showed it and the attendant did a double take.

"Well that will certainly do" she replied smiling at the brothers

"Thank you for looking out for me," Paris said

"It was my pleasure," she answered "good luck at your new school"

"Thanks again," Paris replied as Spence took the duffle bag while Paris dragged his rolling suitcase.

"Have a good flight?" he asked as they headed through the airport to the exit, Paris shuddered

"I hate flying." He whispered "but Aunt Lori and Uncle Eric got me a laptop so it distracted me for the flight."

"Well, that's a good thing." Spencer gave him a grin "but you know Paris when you become an agent, especially with the BAU you're going to have to fly."

Paris made a face

"Don't remind me." he replied, he thought it over "can't I be one of those agents that drives everywhere?"

Now Spencer chuckled

"I don't think it works that way. But don't worry you get used to it and it becomes like second nature." Spence paused as they made their way towards the car-park trams "do you know why you're afraid of flying?"

Paris shook his head

"Nope…never figured it out. Mom thought maybe I was subconsciously remembering my time in the NICU in the incubator and associate that with being enclosed in a plane. But there was no real basis for me to be afraid, I just don't like flying, anytime we watched a movie with a plane I'd close my eyes even if it was supposed to be funny, like that movie Airplane. As long as I didn't focus on the fact they were in a plane, I could enjoy the movie." He paused "and to be truthful it only got worse after September 11th, it was the Christmas break after that we went to Disney I was so scared in the weeks leading up mom almost canceled our part of the trip. This was the first time I've been on a plane that I didn't feel a pit in my stomach."

Spencer seemed to be thinking something over intently, he helped Paris load his duffle onto the tram and the brothers climbed aboard.

"Some people believe that we inherit our fears from our parents." Paris looked up at Spencer quickly "mom's deathly afraid to fly."

"She…she is?"

"Very much. Now I'm not saying that's the reason you're afraid, but it might have something to do with it, it could be all genetic or it could be subconscious too."

"But you're not afraid are you?" Spence shook his head. They had reached Spencer's car and got off the tram. As Spencer loaded Paris's suitcase and duffle into the trunk Paris watched his brother, knowing he had purposely not answered him.

When they were settled in the car and driving off towards Spencer's apartment, Paris finally spoke up

"what are you afraid of? If you're not afraid of flying?"

Spencer gave him a slight grin

"You promise not to laugh?"

"As long as it's not like a fear of bunnies or something like that."

"The dark."

Now Paris stared at his brother

"The dark?" he repeated "but I thought grown-ups weren't afraid of the dark…I thought that was just kids and we outgrow it."

"Sometimes you do, sometimes you don't." Spencer paused "but there's nothing wrong with being afraid of things. Even if you never grow out of your fear there's nothing wrong with that. I may never stop being afraid of the dark, you may always be afraid of flying."

"So even conquering your fear, that doesn't help?"

"Again, sometimes it does. Do you feel that you could fly on the space shuttle now that you've conquered a commercial aircraft?"

Paris thought that over for a moment, chewing on his thumb a bit, before shaking his head

"No, I think I might be a little calmer on a regular flight, but I still feel kind of sick even thinking about it."

"One step at a time I guess." Spence replied, "on a positive note the FBI jet goes much faster so your time on board is considerably less."

Paris sighed

"That's still too long for me and really that doesn't make me want to fly any more than before."

The first thing that caught Paris's eyes when he followed Spencer into his building was the elevator. Instantly the fear that he had only mildly felt on the plane washed over him. His whole body began to shake and Paris felt his chest tighten.

Luckily Spencer was moving towards the stairs, not the elevator. Spencer turned to look back at him when he realized his brother wasn't following.

"Paris?"

"Please tell me that's busted." Spencer looked to where Paris was staring apprehensively

"Elevators too huh?"

"Closed spaces." Paris repeated "but you know oddly enough…I wanted to go on Tower of Terror when I went to Disney. Go figure."

"Don't worry, it works, but I hardly ever take it." Spencer smiled "I'm not too crazy about them myself." Paris couldn't help the grin that washed over his face.

Spencer hadn't been kidding about the small size of his apartment. Standing in the doorway, Paris could see pretty much the whole place, and in every spare space there were books, notebooks, and more books.

"Is that a copy of Aristotle's the Poetics?" Paris asked "a hardcover!" he wandered over to the bookshelf and started to reach for it, but hesitated. He hated when his own books were pulled from an order, cautiously Paris looked back at Spencer who was grinning

"Contains the original text." Paris's eyes went wide as he took the book down and carefully opened it up.

"You…you can't read ancient Greek can you?"

"Not fluently, but I've been studying a few words."

"Could you show me?" he paused "sometime maybe?"

"I'd be happy too," Paris nodded his thanks and looked back over the bookshelves

"You have a lot of 14th and 15th-century pieces here."

"Mom's influence." Paris turned to look at his brother quickly and Spencer remembered just how little Paris knew about their mother. "She was a professor of 15th-century literature."

Paris' grin widened a bit

"That's so cool."

"Feel free to take any of these out to read."

"Are you sure?"

"I trust you Paris."

"Thanks, Spence…that…that means a lot, not a lot of people would trust a kid they don't really know." The words slipped out before Paris could stop to think "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it the way it sounded." He hung his head

"Hey, I told you in Vegas, we're both going to have to get used to this and it's going to take some time." Spencer paused and put Paris's bag on the couch and Paris had to chuckle at the tiny TV that probably only got three channels he knew his brother wasn't home much because of the BAU. "I was hoping to have your room all set before you got here, but apparently there was a delay with the shipment. It should be here tomorrow at the latest." Paris raised an eyebrow

"My room?" he asked

"Regardless of you being at school most of the time you're going to be here sometimes aren't you?" Paris nodded "well you can't live on my couch." Paris followed Spencer down the narrow hall three doors were at the end, the one on the left was obviously the bathroom and the one that was slightly ajar at the very end was the largest of the rooms, and that wasn't saying much.

The room opposite the bathroom was smaller, but not by much. Spencer pushed it open and gestured for Paris go enter. It had obviously been used as an office before and still had a desk, but its openness explained why the living room looked so overcrowded and packed. Spencer had cleaned out his office so Paris could have his own space, there was enough room for his stuff and the bed that was on its way.

I'm sorry it's not much. With the bed in here it's going to be even smaller so I apologize for that."

Paris felt his chest tighten as he turned to his brother

"You didn't have to do this for me…and please don't apologize. I'm the one that should be apologizing." Spencer raised an eyebrow and Paris wondered for a moment if that was what he looked like when he did the same thing.

"Why should you apologize?"

"For dumping me on you, you didn't have to say yes but you were obligated too. I mean I didn't exactly give you a choice to not only let me come here, but I mean you took custody of me even though you didn't have too."

"Hey, I wanted to Paris I'm only sorry it took so long for us to figure things out. I don't just mean your caseworker, everything." He paused "and as soon as we found out, I knew I had to do everything I could to make sure we were a part of each other's lives, once I knew I had a little brother I couldn't just forget that fact." Now Spencer grinned "even without an eidetic memory." Paris returned the grin slightly "but I need you to trust me. Especially when you're at school, I need to know that you will trust me enough to let me know if something is wrong. I don't want you to ever feel like I've forgotten about you, even if the team is on a case I want you to know you can call me and leave a voicemail if I don't answer I'll call you back as soon as I can. Ok?"

Paris nodded slowly he could feel his chest getting tighter and felt his eyes tearing up, at first he wiped them away, embarrassed. Spencer unsure how to handle this patted his shoulder

"Your talking about what Mrs. Mason said, while you guys were in with the judge before I went in for the co-custody hearing."

"You heard that?"

"That's one thing Uncle Eric forgot to warn you 'bout, I've got really good hearing. I heard her tell the judge that it wasn't in my best interest for you to take custody of me 'cause you'd be just dumping me off at a boarding school."

"I can't believe you heard that." Paris shrugged "but you're right she did say that. But-"

"But Uncle Eric brought up the fact that I want to go to Carlisle and that it should be my decision."

Spencer nodded

"Which it should be." Spence paused "so what exactly do you like to eat? I haven't had a chance to go shopping, so whatever you want for dinner we're going to have to get."

Paris grinned wide

"Spence, you said you trust me right?"

"Of course." Spencer started "why?"

"How about I make dinner. Les….mom taught me to cook and I'm pretty good, I make a mean spaghetti and meatballs."

Spencer nodded

"Sounds good to me, there's a market down the street, we can get what you need."

The sound of Paris's voice woke Reid from his deep sleep. It took him a moment or two to register the sound, attributing it to the neighbor's obnoxious cat next door. Just as he was about to roll over and go back to sleep an ear piercing scream erupted in the apartment sending Reid flying out of bed with a jolt, reminding him that just a few feet down the hall his little brother was sleeping.

He threw on his robe from the foot of his bed and bolted down the hall to the family room where Paris's temporary bedroom was.

Paris was still asleep, but he was obviously having a nightmare. His body thrashed and twisted around and amongst the screams Reid could see tears streaming down his brother's face.

"Paris, Paris, wake up!" Reid called shaking Paris's small shoulders "Paris its Spencer wake up."

Paris did not wake up, at least not right away, he whimpered like a puppy that had been beaten and pulled his knees up to his chest, curling into a tight little ball that jumped with fright when Reid touched his shoulder again.

"I'm sorry," Paris whimpered "so sorry, Grant…mom…I'm sorry, please forgive me I didn't mean it any of it…mom, mom please come back."

"Paris!" Reid called a little louder. That did it, Paris's face which had been deathly pale only moments before flushed with color as his eyes opened slowly. Reid saw the panic in his brother's eyes for a few seconds as he tried to get his bearings. "X?" Reid whispered, calling his brother's nickname and for a quick second Paris's breathing became labored and raspy, his arm felt as if it was on fire and his heart felt like it would leap out of his chest in revolt.

Quickly he shook his head, he hated his favorite nickname now, it wasn't him anymore, Xander he could deal with, but X was dead…a ghost that continued to haunt him, for a few months now. It'll all be over soon X I promise, that had been the last thing Cramer had said to him…the last thing that Cramer expected Paris to ever hear and now it was, that was the last time he ever wanted to hear his nickname and any other time made his body remember death.

"Spence?" he whispered

"Are you ok?"

Paris lowered his head

"Yeah, I'm fine, nothing wrong."

"Paris, Eric said you'd been getting nightmares, but he said you've been doing better." Paris sat up and refused to look at his brother, instead he stared at the TV as if it would suddenly turn on and break up the conversation "do you want to talk about it? Sometimes it helps?"

"No…its not a big deal everyone gets nightmares…it was just typical nightmare stuff, monsters, and crap."

"The way you were screaming I doubt that."

"They were ugly." Paris countered and Reid sighed

"and did they involve Grant and your mom?"

"It…uh…" Paris stumbled over the words "no, I." he put his head down "I don't want to talk about it. I'm sorry I woke you up."

Reid took a deep breath and stood up

"All right, but you know if you need to talk I'm here." Paris nodded

"Thanks, Spence," Paris replied, at least that's what it sounded like, he had rolled over back onto the couch with his face plastered into the material.

Reid headed back to his own room and as he climbed back into bed the earlier conversation with Eric and Lori washed through his eidetic memory.

_'Be prepared Spencer, the nightmares are back and to be honest, they are worse than before.'_

_'any idea why?_

_'Cramer, that sonuvabitch sent a detailed letter to Paris, apologizing for his actions and begging for Paris's forgiveness claiming he failed Paris and the others. He was apologizing for Paris surviving.'_

_'Eric,'_

_'I can't believe I ever called him a friend-'_

_'Eric!' Lori interrupted 'we got a hold of the letter before Paris could read it, but he saw the handwriting on the envelope and recognized it, and well, Cramer managed to commit suicide on Death Row, if that's not ironic I don't know what is. It was on the news so there was no way to keep it from Paris. Between that and the handwriting he put two and two together.'_

_'Anyways Spencer that alone would be enough to start Paris's nightmares, but the main thing is he asked to stop going to therapy completely.'_

_'How many times did you get him to go after the hearing?"_

_'twice, and after the second time no more.'_

_'Did he say why?'_

_'No' Eric replied 'and this guy was supposed to be the best in Nevada in Child trauma.'_

_'Let me talk to my supervisors they might have some suggestions of specialists out here.' Reid had replied looking across the living room at Paris who after speaking to his aunt and uncle had settled in front of his computer playing some kind of game._

_'Good luck kid, good luck' Eric replied 'he needs to talk to someone, but he's refusing to talk to anyone, including us, we know he's starting to remember what happened to him, but he's pretending not to._ It's _frustrating because we know we have to help him, but not only do we not know how to, he_ won't _let us.'_

_'Don't worry,' Reid had consoled 'a change of scenery might be what he needs and my whole team will be involved with him.'_

_'We know Spencer, we trust you. Call us after the meeting with the school on Friday let us know how you guys did.'_

_'Sure.'_

_'and Spencer, don't let him stay up all night playing on the computer. And don't let him goat you into buying him coffee, he has had enough of that thanks to Eric and the Vegas police department.' Lori added 'and don't forget he's allergic to penicillin, make sure he's wearing his medical bracelet, he doesn't like wearing it and pretends to forget abo-'_

_'honey, I think Spencer has this,' Eric intervened 'have a great night Spencer.'_

Out in the living room Reid could hear muffled music and knew Paris was listening to something on his iPod, as a way to fall asleep and Reid could only hope that it helped him in some way.

 

                                                                


	3. Chapter 3

                                                                               

 

Walking towards the elevator at Quantico, Paris was to much in awe of the place to realize that he was about to step foot in an elevator.

Luckily it was a quick ride up to the BAU and upon reaching their floor Paris nervously followed his brother through the glass doors.

He stared wide eyed at the hustle and bustle that lay before him, the career he had wanted since he was seven years old was right in front of him waiting for him to snatch it up and ask how to become a part of it.

"Hey you guys made it in!" a familiar voice called and Paris grinned it was Agent Jareau, the media liaison he had met in Vegas she walked right up to the brothers and gave Paris a tight hug "how are you?"

"Fine." He replied "its nice to see you again Agent Jare-"

"JJ, call me JJ,"

"K, JJ."

Also there to greet Paris was Elle and Derek. Paris hadn't seen the agents since the memorial for the kids killed by Mr. Cramer, but not only did they remember him, but they welcomed him in as one of their own.

"Ok, where is he come on!" an excited voice trickled down from the stairs and Paris looked towards the sound nervously, he didn't recognize the voice at all.

A blonde woman wearing brightly colored clothes and a warming smile on her face walked quickly to him and stopped short, Paris fought the urge to hide behind his brother.

"Paris this is Penelope Garcia our technical speci-" Reid started to introduce when Garcia moved on her own sweeping Paris up in tight hug

"He is so adorable" she exclaimed hugging him tighter "he is a mini you!" Paris looked over at his brother a mix of a helpless look and a confused look on his face

"Um, Penelope sweetheart I don't think the kid can breathe." Morgan interjected laughing

"Mini you?" Paris mouthed to his brother

"Don't ask" was the reply he got.

"How was your flight here?" Elle asked giving Pairs a gentle smile as Reid pried his little brother out of Garcia's arms

"Long." Paris replied, Reid glanced up at the main offices and saw Gideon leaning on the railing

"Can Paris stay here with you guys for a second?" he asked his team Paris looked at his brother a confused look on his face

"Of course!" Garcia exclaimed, "I will give Paris a personal guided tour!" She wrapped her arm around Paris's shoulder and guided him away from the group.

Up in the offices Hotch joined Gideon and Reid in the conference room, the two senior agents looked at Reid expectantly as they all sat down.

"Is Paris settling in all right?" Hotch asked breaking the silence

"In a matter of speaking, he seems to be settling, but" Reid's voice trailed off as he thought his words over, asking for help was not something Reid was used to, but this was a new situation for the youngest profiler and asking for help was to help his brother.

"But?"

"Lori and Eric are concerned, apparently Paris asked to stop going to therapy and his nightmares are getting worse. He was close to tears last night because of a nightmare." Reid paused "I promised the Williamsons I would talk to you both for some help."

Just down the hall, Paris followed Garcia through the hall towards a closed door; she smiled at him mysteriously as she put a hand on the handle

"Now my young minion, behold the hub behind this door." She whispered and pushed the door open.

Paris's eyes went wide as he took in the room. It was like the ultimate computer room, as if Best Buy, Staples, and Apple computers had been miniaturized and existed only in this room.

There were monitors everywhere, flashing lights, desktops, keyboards, but what really caught Paris's attention were the figurines, toys really, that were scattered around the office, bright colors that matched Garcia's bright personality. He wandered over to her desk and picked up the mini figurine of Scrat the squirrel from the Ice Age movie,

"Scrat!" Paris exclaimed

"Is that his name?" Garcia asked grinning "I just thought he was ubber adorable and had to buy him."

Now it was Paris's turn to grin, he had never heard an adult utter the word ubber before and was really starting to realize that Garcia was just a big kid.

"He's my favorite character from Ice Age." Paris admitted gently putting the toy back in its proper place.

'Ice Age hm?" Garcia reached to her desk, took a pen, scrap piece of paper, and wrote down the title of the movie.

Paris grinned

"You're a lefty too?" he exclaimed Garcia returned the grin and nodded

"You too?"

"Yup, I'm ambidextrous, but my left hand is definitely my stronger hand." Paris replied "believe it or not me and one of my classmates at my school back in Vegas, we were the only lefties in the class."

Garcia gestured to one of the rolling chairs and Paris took a seat, swinging his legs back and forth.

"So my little Minion, which do you prefer to be called, Minion, Paris, Xander, your brother mentioned you liked to be called X."

It hit Paris again, immediately that one letter that used to be his favorite nickname, first his arm tingled, just a bit where the scar was, a permanent reminder of his near death experience, then he felt his chest tighten, he couldn't breathe, he felt as if he was suffocating, like a bag had been put around his head cutting off his oxygen supplies.

Paris looked around; the room felt as if it was closing in on him it would crush him in a matter of moments, there was no air for him and at that moment Paris knew he was having a panic attack.

A wheezing noise came from Paris's throat as he gasped for air, Garcia began shouting for help as she rubbed his back trying to calm him down, obviously not wanting to leave him, but at the same time knowing she needed to find help.

Suddenly Spencer was there, along with the other members of his team, Paris could hear Garcia calling his name and Spencer was digging around in his bag trying to find Paris's inhaler even though Paris knew it wasn't going to do anything, this was not an asthma attack, he had been diagnosed with mild exercise and allergy induced asthma as a first grader, but hadn't had an attack in years.

"Paris!" Spence called, finally finding the inhaler in Paris's backpack,

"Reid I don't think this is an asthma attack." Morgan said quickly "my sister has asthma, I've seen an attack, I don't think this is one. I think he's having a panic attack."

Morgan reached over and carefully scooped Paris up in his arms and carried him out of Garcia's tech room to the wide open hall above the bull pen. He put Paris gently down on the floor and knelt down next to him.

"Paris, its Morgan kid, take a deep breath, try to breath in and out slowly and deeply, just focus on my voice, your brother is right here ok, I just need you to breathe."

It took some concentration, Paris was beginning to really panic more as he began to feel lightheaded from the lack of oxygen, but he focused like Agent Morgan told him too and tried to relax feeling like he was going to pass out the entire time. It took a minute, but Paris was finally able to relax his breathing enough.

He felt tears streaming down his face and hugged the closest person to him, Garcia, he sobbed as she rocked him looking at the rest of the team in confusion.

"Penelope what happened?" Hotch asked

"He was fine, I just asked him about his nickname." She whispered as Paris's sobs quieted down to hiccups, "then this started."

Reid looked at Garcia quickly, as it dawned on him.

"Which nickname?" he asked her

"X" Garcia mouthed, afraid to say it out-loud and cause another panic attack from the shaking eleven year old in her arms.

"Exactly, I called him the same thing the other night and he nearly broke down. I just assumed that he was still reeling from the nightmare. Paris?" Reid knelt down next to his brother and Garcia "Paris what is about that name?"

"C…r…" Paris couldn't get the words out but Reid didn't need to hear anymore letters, he knew it instantly, as did the rest of the team. JJ left quickly, came back with a cup of water, and handed it to Garcia who insisted that Paris take a sip at least.

It took a few minutes before Paris began to calm down, and it took even longer before Spencer would leave him, as Garcia gently shooed him out of her office. Despite trusting Garcia, Reid was hesitant, but he knew that no one else thus far had been able to get Paris to talk, he had to let Garcia have a shot.

Garcia waited a few minutes more before she finally spoke up, letting Paris finish off the cup of water.

"Better hon?" she asked as gently as possible.

Paris nodded slowly

"I'm sorry for scaring you guys." He said softly, his throat hurt, as did his chest.

"Don't apologize for something you have no control over. We just need to know that you're okay." Paris took a deep breath, ignoring the sharp pain in his chest, he wanted to tell Garcia that he was fine, that it had been just a misunderstanding. But when he tried to tell her this he couldn't speak "you're really hurting aren't you?" she guessed and his flinching was all the answer she needed, she leaned forward and pushed his bangs back out of his eyes. "Do you want to talk about it?" Paris hesitated "I can promise you Paris whatever you tell me does not leave this room unless you want it to. I just know it helps to talk."

"I just don't want to worry anyone…but I guess I've already done that." He paused "My aunt and uncle…and Spence, they think I've got amnesia that I don't remember what happened to me, or at least I don't remember all of it. And that's true I didn't, but a few weeks ago I started to remember and now I remember everything. Every time I close my eyes I can see that room, I can feel the needle, I can smell the smoke, and worse of all I can hear Mr. Cramer's voice, telling me it'll all be over soon. He always called me X…"

Paris felt his chest tightening again, but this time it was a normal reaction, tears were streaming down his face, he couldn't believe how easy it was to talk about it, he hadn't been able too, not with anyone, not even his own brother. But sitting in the small computer room with Garcia, not only was the story flowing, but he felt at ease telling her.

"He promised me I'd see my mom, that she was waiting for me…that I'd be in a better place." Paris paused again to rub his eyes, he couldn't even see Garcia anymore his vision was blurred by the tears. "He tried to kill me…he killed my best friend, we were supposed to trust him, he was a teacher, he was supposed to be one of the good guys. How could he do that? How could he kill all those other kids? Did he really think he was saving us? Saving us from what? Bullies, being picked on? Grant was going to get away from all that stuff that was holding him back, his foster family adopted him, the day he went missing they were going out to dinner to tell him and celebrate, they were gonna send him to a new school…Mr. C…Cramer was helping him with the paperwork."

Garcia didn't say anything, she sat there and listened and that was all Paris needed. He wasn't sure why he felt so comfortable telling Garcia all this, but he did. Spence was his brother and he trusted him, but Garcia had a…an aura about her, Paris knew she would worry about him like Spence, but it was different, Paris couldn't explain it, something about Garcia just made her easier to talk to.

He talked about his friends and former friends from his school, the good times and the bad, about Leslie and what she was like, and how much he missed her.

Everything that Paris had been holding back for months, two years actually just came out in a flood, he found himself telling Garcia what he was scared of, what he wanted in the future and what had happened in the past.

When Paris finally finished, he felt better than he had in so long, he actually sighed with relief as all the stress and pain he had been feeling washed away, just by talking about it.

Garcia waited a minute to be sure that Paris was indeed done; she reached forward and hugged him tight.

"Anytime you want to talk, do not be afraid to do so, I will do my best to make time to talk. I know your brother probably said the same thing right?"

Paris nodded

"Yeah, he said to call him and leave him a voice mail if he didn't answer, like if he was on a case, he promised he would always call me right back as soon as he was able."

"Then I promise you the same thing, ok?" she said softly

"k," he replied taking a deep breath

"Paris do you have a cell phone?" he nodded

"Yeah, Spence bought it for me yesterday, so I can call my aunt and uncle, and my cousin, and him while I'm at school."

Paris reached into his pocket and pulled out the small cell phone, it wasn't anything fancy, but that was fine with Paris he didn't really want a phone like that, at least not yet, maybe when he was older, but for now the small blue and silver Motorola flip phone was perfect for him.

He handed it to her and Garcia plugged it into one of her computers, she hit a series of buttons on the keyboard in a blur. Paris couldn't help but grin as she worked Garcia was easily one of the coolest grownups he had ever met.

A minute later Garcia handed the phone back to Paris,

"You now have everyone's number, everyone on the team. I left your aunt, uncle, cousin, and of course your brother as the first four, but I am number five, I want you to be able to reach any of us if you need to."

Paris scrolled through the contacts and grinned at the ten numbers on speed dial, his family, and his brother's extended family, his co-workers were now on his phone.

"Thank you."

"You are a part of this family now Paris and we are happy you are."


	4. Chapter 4

                                                                                                      

 

"How are you feeling?" Reid asked Paris as they drove down Carlisle road towards the school. Paris was practically out the window of his brother's car, a vehicle that Paris still couldn't help but chuckle at. Spence had pretended to be offended by Paris' continued attitude towards his car, but Paris knew he was only kidding, and it allowed the brothers a laugh.

Because the drive was roughly four hours from Spencer's apartment to the school and because their appointment at the school was for nine in the morning, the brothers ended up leaving the night before and spending the night at a local Holiday Inn about half an hour from the school. That way they could get an early start, fresh the next morning.

Now that they were five minutes from the school itself, Paris was no longer grinning, he could feel the butterflies in his stomach morphing into giant albatrosses or something and he felt a little sick.

The large all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet at the hotel that had seemed like such a great idea two hours before, when Paris was starving and had loaded his plate up with pancakes, bacon, eggs, and home-fries, washed down with a couple large glasses of milk, now didn't seem as good as it had been.

Spencer had actually been surprised Paris had taken so much food, doubting briefly that the small eleven year old could possibly eat that much, a doubt that was quickly dismissed when Paris quickly cleared his plate and went up for seconds.

Spencer also managed to keep his promise to Lori Williamson by deterring Paris' attempt to switch his glass of milk for a cup of coffee, much to Paris' disappointment, he had tried to persuade Spencer to give in and just look the other way, but Spencer put his foot down in his first act of brotherly authority and gently ordered Paris away from the coffee.

Spence called his name a few more times before Paris finally heard him, he shook his head quickly and looked at his brother

"Sorry, what I do?"

Reid chuckled

"I asked how you were feeling."

"Oh, sorry I was just thinking"

"Which is dangerous for you."

"Hey!" Paris exclaimed as Spencer chuckled, turning up the main road for the school. It was still summer time so the campus itself was pretty quiet.

Obviously, there were a few summer camps going ranging from little kids to kids Paris' age. Spencer parked his car near the main office and both brothers got out of the car.

Paris took a deep breath and followed Spencer through the double doors and into the office. The humid air outside was easily countered by the arctic temperatures inside. A secretary was seated inside the office typing on her computer, she looked up when the brothers entered and smiled warmly.

"Hello, can I help you, folks?"

"My, my name is Spencer Reid, my brother Paris and I have an appointment to see Mr. Dowelway, the headmaster?"

"Ah yes, it's nice to meet you both, Paris we have heard a lot about you." The secretary said with a smile "I am Mrs. Kennedy, I am Mr. Dowelway's personal secretary. Give me one second to let him know you both are here, please have a seat, enjoy the AC." She disappeared through a side door, leaving the brothers alone in the office.

"Still nervous?" Spencer asked softly, Paris reached into his pocket and gave his casino chip a tight squeeze, before looking at his brother

"Uh huh," he mumbled

"Paris, they've already accepted you, this is just to go over your class schedule and what we both can expect with your freshman year."

Paris nodded as the main office door opened and a man whose appearance screamed headmaster emerged. He was smiling and walked right to the brothers, hand extended.

"Dr. Reid I presume?" he asked shaking Spencer's hand

"Mr. Dowelway, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," he turned to Paris "and it is a pleasure to meet you young man, I can't tell you how pleased we are that you chose Carlisle." He shook Paris's hand gently before guiding the brothers into his office. "Please hold all calls Mrs. Kennedy, and if you would page Scott Harding, Tessa Dawes, and Miranda Hill for me please." He turned to Paris and Spencer "Scott is the dorm parent for the boys house, Tessa will be Paris's guidance councilor, and Miranda is freshman faculty leader she is also Paris's homeroom teacher for the first semester."

"See, it will be fine." Spencer whispered to Paris as they followed Mr. Dowelway into his office.

He gestured for the brothers to take a seat in front of his desk, the room had extra chairs set up for the coming faculty members, but the office itself was warm and inviting, almost like a professors study or a library in a mansion and Paris instantly felt comfortable.

"So lets discuss a few things while we wait for the others, kind of a cliff notes of what the others are going to discuss." Mr. Dowelway started taking a seat behind his large desk. "now, Paris as far as the dormitory goes, you are one of the youngest students we have had entering high school and certainly the youngest one to live on campus. Normally we make the suggestion regarding dorm living to students in their junior even senior year, a way to prepare them for college if you will. However because of your circumstances the dorm of course will be made available to you, I will let Mr. Harding explain move in procedure and dorm life, I do however want to let you know one particular thing, we have placed you with a roommate whom we felt was best suited for this task." He paused and smiled gently at Paris "Hector is a sophomore, he has been a student with us since third grade, his father works for the British government and travels back and forth between the two countries regularly, Hector made it perfectly clear he wished to finish school with us so he has been in the dorms since he was thirteen. He is very well liked and very mature for his age so we felt he would be the ideal roommate, I believe you will also be in several classes with Hector so it works out perfectly."

"Will we have an opportunity to look at the dorms?" Spencer asked and Paris was glad his brother asked the first question, his stomach was starting to settle down, but his heart was still racing.

"Oh of course, I will be able to show you to your exact room, Hector is in London at the moment with his parents, he will be back tomorrow. As you know since you received a copy of our academic calendar, new student orientation is on the twenty- third this year, so we recommend you actually move into the dorms on the twenty-second to get acquainted with the area and the school itself, Hector will be glad to help you out with that. Then on the twenty-fourth classes begin. The next few weeks or so will be quite busy around here. Now Paris, I saw in your records that you play soccer is that correct?"

Paris looked at his hands, not really wanting to answer that question, true he did soccer, but it was in the past. He stopped playing the sport when Leslie got sick, it just hadn't seemed important anymore, there had always been a tiny nagging in the back of his mind reminding him how much he liked the sport and wanted to get back into it.

Spencer reached over and gently nudged his brother with his elbow. Paris took a deep breath and nodded

"Yes sir but I haven't played in a long time." He answered honestly

"Well, of course, it is up to you Paris, but we do have a pretty good soccer team here, and they are always looking for new players. I would certainly consider it." Mr. Dowelway finished smiling. "We have other extracurricular activities available to our students as well as a number of clubs to join. Believe me Paris you will not have trouble finding some sort of activity to be involved in; there are plenty to choose." There was a knock at the office door and a man and two women walked in. "Ah, good."

After the introductions were made, the four educators and the brothers took their seats. Scott Harding leaned over to talk to Paris and Spencer.

"So we'll take a tour of the dorm and then we'll show you guys the school itself." Scott reached into his briefcase and pulled out a packet of papers "this is what you should bring to move in and also our rules for dorm life."

"How many students typically live in the dorms?" Spencer asked

"It varies from year to year, this year we have seven boys and ten girls, the two houses are near each other, but separate and are both a nice short walk to the library as well as the academic buildings. I'll go over all this stuff during our first house meeting, but for your brother's benefit, I'll give you guys a rough overview. There is a curfew in the house except during finals week, but the curfew being put on hold only applies to be being at the library which is open all night leading up to and during finals week. Residents are expected to be in the dorm no later than nine unless other arrangements have been made. I treat you guys like the young adults you are, so I do not do bed checks, but I do expect you guys to act like adults at least on that end. The whole house is open to you guys, family room kitchen, the school will stock the basics but if you want snacks and stuff it's up to you to get them. I have a sign-up sheet posted in the kitchen and every other week I take the schools van and bring whoever wants to go down to the local supermarket to get snacks and stuff to stock up."

"Now Paris because you are younger than your classmates and even your fellow residents in the dorm, we will have special requirements of you." Mr. Dowelway spoke up "I promise we will not make it obvious that you have special treatment, but it will be made available to you. One of those requirements we will insist on is a daily rundown of how you are doing."

Paris tried not to make a face, but he couldn't help it. The adults, however, all chuckled as if they expected that reaction. Tessa smiled at Paris gently.

"What will happen is at the end of classes each day is you just swing by my office. I'll ask you how your day was, you tell me if it was okay or not okay and we'll go from there."

Paris looked at her in surprise

"That's it?"

"That's it, it's nothing formal, nothing to painful. We just want to make sure you are settling in okay. It's not easy going away to school at such a young age and it's certainly not easy to skip middle school entirely and go into high school. We know you're a smart kid, but we want to make sure you stay a kid." Tessa replied "as the week's progress, if it seems you're doing better we'll move down to once or twice a week for a meeting. But my office will always be available to you."

Paris nodded his reply

"Well, now that's settled. Paris, Dr. Reid, why don't we take a walk down to the house, so you can get acclimated with that. Afterward, we'll stop by the Bassett-Morton building that's where the high school is." Mr. Dowelway spoke up, he stood up and the others followed in suit "Mrs. Hill will meet us there."

The walk from the main offices to the dorm house was actually a nice walk, Paris couldn't wait to explore the rest of the campus.

The house for the dorms was warm and open. Paris felt at home instantly. The family room had enough couches and chairs for everyone to sit and a decent size TV sat in the cabinet. Scott Harding explained that most students brought their own game system, as well as DVDs to the dorm house, but tend to leave them down in the family room, an understanding of sorts between the boys had existed each year about game systems and movies usage and responsibility.

Paris had his own systems, a GameCube and a PS2; he had left them behind in Nevada, but was tempted to have his aunt and uncle send the systems and his games out to Virginia, if it was allowed, something Paris had thought wasn't possible.

But it was his new room that caught Paris attention; he was dumbfounded by the sheer size of it. It was huge by comparison to other rooms Paris had seen, a set of bunk-beds stood on either side of the room, a top bunk and in place of the bottom bunk a desk. Each resident had their own closest, nightstand, bookcase and a bureau, but there was plenty of room for the boys to create their own space and personality.

Well Paris what do you think?" Scott asked, exchanging a grin with Spencer and Mr. Dowelway

"This is cool!" Paris exclaimed

"I think he approves." Spencer replied

"Come on I'll show you the rest of the dorm and then we'll head over to Bassett so Mrs. Hill can give you the grand tour." Mr. Dowelway said gesturing for the brothers to follow.

While Mrs. Hill brought Paris around the school itself, Mr. Dowelway and Tessa Dawes asked Spencer to accompany them to an office to discuss Paris. Reid was debating in his mind if he should explain Paris' situation to at least the headmaster and guidance counselor. It was a tough subject to do so, but it was necessary for certain people to know. Thankfully, the educators opened the door for the subject.

"First off Dr. Reid, we are very happy to have you and your brother become members of our Carlisle family. We just wanted to sit down with you and go over any concerns you might have or any questions." Mr. Dowelway said as they sat down

"I'm not sure if you're aware of what first led Paris to apply here?" Reid asked

"We were not 100% sure." Tessa admitted "and we were not sure if it was something anyone would be willing to talk about. We read that his foster mother passed away of breast cancer and I'm sure that has not been easy for him."

"Have you heard anything about the abductions in Las Vegas this past spring?"

"I did, it was horrible, those poor kids, those poor families," Tessa replied shaking her head. She then put two and two together "Paris didn't know any of the children did he?"

"His best friend was the last victim killed, and Paris was the last one to be kidnapped," Reid explained gently, the headmaster and the school counselor needed to know. It would help to explain Paris' nightmares if he had any during the school year. Richard Dowelway and Tessa Dawes exchanged a surprised look.

"We had no idea; of course it was all over the news about the murders," Tessa said softly

"Paris' aunt and uncle and I made sure his name stayed out of the media, he went through enough as it was. My main concern is that Paris has been suffering what can only be described as PTSD, certain events trigger a panic attack."

"I can see why you are concerned Dr. Reid, what can we do to help Paris?"

"He has made a connection with one of my co-workers, he's quiet, to begin with, but she has managed to break down Paris' shell. He's promised to call or email her if he needs to talk and she's insisting that he email her to check in. The entire team has a connection with Paris, so he has a strong support system. I'll include as many names and numbers in his emergency contact as possible. I can also go over with you some of the triggers, so his teachers and Mr. Harding are aware."

"We appreciate you telling us Dr. Reid, we will certainly make sure the accommodations are in place for Paris," Tessa replied and Mr. Dowelway nodded his agreement.

"I highly recommend Paris join some of our extracurricular activities, it will be good for him to have a distraction. We're having tryouts for our JV and Varsity soccer teams, even though Paris is only eleven I'm sure he will be qualified to play for our older teams."

Reid nodded

"I'll talk to him."

The three adults stood up and shook hands

"Dr. Reid it was an absolute pleasure meeting you and Paris. I am so happy to welcome you both to the Carlisle family. See you during move-in day?" Mr. Dowelway concluded as they headed out of the office.

"Thank you both," Reid replied, Paris entered the building and grinned at his brother, obviously impressed with the school and what he had seen.

The two brothers headed back to Spencer's car and began the drive down the road towards the main road that would eventually lead them back to DC.

"So, still meet your expectations?" Spencer asked, the grin on Paris' face was catch and Spencer couldn't help but return it.

"Heck yeah!" Paris exclaimed, "I can't wait to start." Paris reached into his bag and pulled out a folder that Mrs. Hill had provided him. Inside was a packet with the school handbook, his class schedule, a map of the school grounds and the school itself, and other necessary documents and paperwork for a new student. "Wait till you see the classes I'm going to be taking. Some of the classes are really advanced. I wouldn't even take most of these if I went to a regular public school. I wouldn't take these classes till college if I was lucky."

"That's great Paris," Spencer replied, he paused for a second "you're going to do great there. Are you sure you okay with meeting with Mrs. Dawes after school?"

Paris took a deep breath and thought that over for a moment, he wasn't all that thrilled with it. But he understood why it was necessary, just like he understood why his brother had told the headmaster and the counselor about what had happened in Vegas. Paris, however, decided not to tell Spencer that he knew, Paris knew his brother was doing what he could in Paris' best interest. Spencer may have doubted he was right for the job as a big brother, but Paris knew Spence was doing just fine.


	5. Chapter 5

Within a few days of moving into his dorm room, Paris felt right at home, not just in the dorm but in the school itself.

His classmates, despite being much older than him had accepted him quickly, to the point where Paris was even willing to tell them his name, instead of hanging onto the nickname he had used as a shield for so long. Instead of getting teased for it, his classmates were in awe over it.

Going from a school where no one his age had even heard of the Trojan war or Prince Paris, Paris was dumbfounded and relieved to find that not only had everyone heard of Homer's poem, nearly all had read it in classes and at home and were thrilled to meet someone who had been named for a character in that epic.

It was also the first time in a school that Paris didn't feel the need to hide his intelligence, he was surrounded by students and teachers who didn't care how smart he was, they liked him regardless and none of his teachers singled him out or put him on a pedestal. He was just a regular kid, which was all Paris wanted.

The other boys in his dorm house were friendly and welcoming to their little brother as they were calling him and his roommate Hector was easily becoming his best friend. Despite their age difference, both boys had quite a bit in common, similar tastes in music, sports, and even movies. Paris was ecstatic to find out that Hector was a fan of horror movies and had brought his entire collection to the dorm.

Most importantly though, they shared a love of soccer, Hector had a secured place on the school's team as the goaltender, and he spent the first few days of their rooming together, trying to persuade Paris to at least tryout.

Paris hadn't played soccer in years, not since Leslie had gotten sick, he still loved the game and watched it on TV whenever he could, but playing it without Leslie on the sidelines cheering him on felt wrong.

The fourth night of Paris' living in the dorm, he made his usual phone calls for the evening. The first was to Eric and Lori, telling them about his day and wishing them a good night, he would email his cousin Janet later on. He knew the phone bill calling Vegas every night was going to add up, but he knew if he didn't call it would hurt Lori and Eric's feelings. The second phone call was to Garcia, basically the same as his phone call to his aunt and uncle, she too wanted to know about his day and how everything was going.

Unlike his aunt and uncle, Paris felt a little more comfortable mentioning the soccer thing to Garcia. His family was technically biased, they'd want him to play, at least Garcia would give her own opinion on the matter without much knowledge either way. At least that's what Paris was hoping for when he called her.

Garcia on the other hand already had a heads up about the soccer issue and had already made up her mind on it. She wanted Paris to play, there was no reason for him not to do something he loved so much. She told him to at least give it a try, there was no harm in just giving it a try.

Paris knew he should've known better, but thanked Garcia just the same and wished her a good night too. The final phone call was to his brother

"Hi Paris," Spence said picking up on the second ring

"Hi Spence," Paris replied pacing back and forth around his room, Hector was down in the kitchen raiding the fridge, Paris had learned very quickly that his roommate and friend was a certified bottomless pit and despite the large dinner he had wolfed down in the dining hall was still very hungry.

"How's everything going?"

"Going pretty good, I joined a couple of clubs. Carlisle has an art club and a chess club, I couldn't say no to those."

"I also heard they have a pretty decent soccer team," Spence added and Paris groaned

"Oh, not you too." He replied and Spence chuckled on the other end of the line

"I'm just assuming that's not the first mention of the team you've heard today?"

"Try the last couple of days." Paris sighed, he spotted his roommate in the hall and grinned, as he carried a plate full of cookies and balanced a large glass of milk on the plate while he held a smaller one in his hand for Paris. "Hector's been pestering me for the last couple of days about trying out. He's like the energizer Brit, he keeps going and going."

"Hey, I resemble that remark!" Hector replied setting everything down on his desk. He shoved a cookie in his mouth and laughed "would you like me to get a drum and start beating it repeatedly saying 'join the football team, join the football team' to answer him, Paris reached over to his bed and threw his pillow at his roommate. Hector caught it and tossed it back.

Instinctively Paris lifted his knee and soccer juggled the pillow onto his own bed. Hector's response to that move was a look that clearly said 'told you so.'

"Sounds like you guys are along?" Spence asked chuckling

"Yeah, we are." Paris said grinning at Hector "you should see his movie collection. He's got tons of horror movies and documentaries about hauntings."

"that's great Paris, sounds like you're doing fine."

Paris nodded

"More than fine." He paused "do you think I should go out for the team?" he asked softly, not that it mattered. Hector had his headphones plugged into his computer and was playing World of Warcraft, at least that's what it looked like from where Paris was standing.

"It's up to you Paris, that's something I don't have any experience in. But I do know it was something that you enjoyed doing and something from what I've heard you were pretty good at."

"I guess," Paris replied

"just give it a try, there's no harm in just trying."

Now Paris rolled his eyes

"Penelope said the same thing," he told his brother

"Well, she's right." Was Spence's answer "when are the tryouts?"

"The day after tomorrow, at 3:30."

"Do you have everything you need?"

"Uncle Eric express shipped my cleats and shin pads out. I'm pretty sure he was hinting, if not flat-out ordering. They came yesterday, it really encouraged Hector to pester."

Spencer chuckled again

"You'll be fine, go for it okay?"

"All right all right, I will." Now Paris was laughing as he rolled his eyes "I surrender, I'll try out."

"It's about bloody time!" Hector exclaimed, not even looking up from his computer, causing Paris and Spencer to burst out laughing.

Sitting in the locker room, Paris felt his stomach twist with nerves as he tied his cleats for the first time in years. His feet had grown a bit since the last time he had worn them so his toes were pinched. If he made the team, and that was a big IF, he'd have to have a new pair ordered.

Just as Paris was standing up, Hector came jogging into the room, with the boy's JV coach in tow.

"Coach Martin, this is Paris, my roommate," Hector said introducing the two. Paris held out his hand timidly and Coach Martin shook it.

"You're just a little guy aren't you?" he asked, it wasn't meant to be cruel, it was just a statement. Paris nodded "how old are you?"

"Eleven sir," he replied and Coach Martin whistled

"Whoa, and you're a freshman? You must be a pretty smart kid."

"He's got an IQ of what Paris, 183?" Hector spoke up, throwing his arm around Paris' shoulders and Paris rolled his eyes.

"Well, you'd certainly be the youngest player on the team, but that might actually work in our favor. Can you play?"

Paris nodded

"Started when I was five."

"Okay boys, see you on the field in five." Coach Martin said, heading out of the locker room.

Paris exchanged a look with Hector who had the biggest grin on his face, and Paris had to admit it, it was catchy.

"Come on, let's go!" Hector exclaimed and dragged Paris out of the locker room.

"Welcome to the Carlisle 2006 soccer tryouts." Coach Martin said loudly looking out at the seventy or so boys. He gestured to the other two coaches on either side of him "this is Coach Sprag for the Freshmen team and Coach Faye our Varsity coach. Now for you new guys this is how this tryout works, anyone who comes out for this team who shows that they want to be here will never be cut. These tryouts are not about who will make the team and who won't, it's only a matter of what level you will be playing at. A few of you are already guaranteed a spot on the varsity team, after last year's performance you guys earned it. So for you new guys you will be trying out for a spot on either the varsity team, the JV team, or for you freshmen, the freshmen team. For you freshmen don't be discouraged if you don't make the JV or Varsity team, I promise you will be there next year or the year after. Today will consist of condition running, ball handling, and a scrimmage. Tomorrow the other coaches and I will evaluate everyone and we'll have the rosters posted outside the gym the following day. For now, I want everyone to warm up, I want everyone stretching."

Paris had been a little worried about warming up, he hadn't done anything athletic outside of gym class since he quit soccer, he just hoped it was like riding a bike and once his body realized what was going on it would catch up.

After quick warm-ups and stretches, the real tryouts began and Paris felt better than he had in months, it wasn't just the physicality, but just the sheer fact that he was kicking a soccer ball around. Paris was much smaller than the other boys trying out, but he was able to keep up with them as they practiced drills and prepared for the scrimmage.

Unbeknownst to Paris, he had supporters on the sidelines, not only had Spencer made the trip down but nearly the entire team Paris had come to see as his extended family. The only two missing were Agent Gideon and Agent Hotchner. But standing there among the other parents and friends, Paris had support like the other kids.

When the coaches split the boys up into two teams for the scrimmage, Paris nervously looked around, when he spotted the cheering squad he had to do a double take as a grin slid across his face. He couldn't believe they had all come down, of course, this would never replace Leslie sitting there screaming his name in cheers until her voice went, arguing with the refs from the sideline and calling out plays, nothing could ever replace that, but Paris knew this was a start and he felt grateful for the gesture.

Coach Martin blew his whistle and the scrimmage began. At first, Paris just kept up with the ball and his teammates. He was timid about making a move towards the ball to intercept it, whenever the ball came his way he would kick it off, passing it to one of his teammates. Paris quickly realized though he had to show that he had some skill, he was a strong soccer player. He began to show a little more drive to get to the ball, he juggled it a few times and even had some headers, sending the ball downfield.

With his extended family cheering his name, Paris had a huge boost of confidence and as the play clock began ticking down he called for the ball. Paris' small size came in handy as he easily darted around the much taller players, dribbling the ball down the field. When one of the defense blocked him, Paris booted the ball across the field to his teammate who in turn became trapped by a group of the other team.

"Paris!" He shouted and launched the ball high into the air, Paris ran as fast as he could his heart pounding in his chest, the ball was too high and at such a strange angle for him to chest it. The clock was ticking closer to the end of the game, they were tied with the other team, a goal would be perfect.

Hoping he was doing the play correctly, Paris jumped up in the air to kick it, it connected with his foot and ricocheted towards the goal. Paris landed hard on his back with a thud and hung his head in shame, he had screwed that up, they were going to lose because he wanted to show off, he should have passed it to another open teammate. As he started to stand back up he was picked up by Hector and a few of the other guys on the team and they were shaking him and cheering.

"Dude it went in! We won!" Hector was shouting as he tried to throw Paris in the air, luckily one of their other teammates grabbed Paris before Hector could.

Paris was dumbfounded; he looked towards the net through the sea of players and saw the soccer ball sitting in the net. He couldn't believe it, he had done that play once, right before he quit soccer, his coach had taught him the move, seeing how acrobatic Paris was he was sure even the nine-year-old could accomplish it. But Paris had only done so with his coach lifting him up and gently putting him down; he had never tried it on his own.

"That was very impressive boys," Coach Martin exclaimed as him and the other two coaches gathered the teams around. "You all played wonderfully. Our school is very lucky to have such talent on hand. We have a lot discuss so you guys are all dismissed. We'll have the rosters posted outside my office. Great job again everyone!"

Paris darted away from his teammates and ran up the hill towards his brother and the other BAU. When he reached the top, he didn't even get near his brother as Garcia swept him up in a big hug.

"We are so proud of you that was amazing!" she exclaimed rocking him back and forth as she hugged him.

"Baby girl, I think you may be suffocating him," Morgan spoke up as Garcia gently released Paris.

"It's okay," he spoke up "I can't believe you guys came!"

"When Reid told us you had tryouts today, we knew we couldn't miss it." Morgan replied "especially after hearing you were doubting yourself," Paris nodded "kid I saw your bedroom back in Vegas, that room was covered in soccer stuff." Now Paris went red, he grinned and shrugged.

"Great job Paris," Spence spoke up "I knew you would go through with it."

"Thanks, Spence, thanks all you guys."

"Hey we wouldn't leave you unsupported, you deserved your own cheering squad."

"And your own reward squad," JJ added

"Go get changed, I've already cleared it with Mr. Harding," Spencer spoke up

"Cleared what?" Paris asked

"Us taking you out to dinner."

"For the goal?"

Spence shook his head

"For not giving up on something you love and are good at, just because you're afraid." Spence replied giving his brother a gentle push. "now go, we'll meet you outside the gym."

Paris blinked and grinned a little as he took off running back down the hill towards the gym. His brother's team really was his new family, he couldn't believe how many people he had in his life now who loved and supported him.

As he ran down the hill, he glanced up at the sky, wondering for a moment if his mom was watching from wherever she was. He wondered if she was proud of him and more importantly if she knew how much he loved her and that he would never replace her, but it felt good to have more people in his life, an extended family, a big family like Leslie had always wanted.

 

                                                                 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate putting these at the beginning unless it's necessary. Three words of warning. These next few chapters tie directly into an episode of Criminal Minds, a very familiar episode from the First into the second season, which you guys will figure out in just a minute. Please don't hate me for doing this, this episode was one of the first that strongly stood out in my mind in general, but, well I think you guys will see. Also the second part there will be a mention of Star Wars and X-men, not only do I not own that, but there will be an extra character mentioned, the unrecognizable X-men character belongs to a friend/fellow writer. The third thing is the reason I haven't updated this fic both here on Archives of Our and on Fanfiction is because I ran into a bit of writer's block on this fic, it is one I would love to continue, but I am stuck on where to take it so any help would be much appreciated.

                                          

 

*Three Weeks Later*

Paris wasn't expecting his phone to ring, in fact, he hadn't realized it was on the ringer, to begin with. Not expecting his phone to not only vibrate in his pocket but also ring made the eleven-year-old jump a bit and yelp as his two friends, Dillon, and Hector burst out laughing.

"You're lucky that's going off now and not during class, you'd be toast." Dillon snickered

Paris didn't mean to ignore his friends, but couldn't help but stare at the flashing 'unknown number' he felt a chill run up his spine.

"That's weird" he muttered

"What?" Hector asked

"Only certain people have the cell's number, they're the only ones who call me, but none of them call during the day 'cause they know I'm in class, 'pecially not my cousin 'cause she has in class too, my aunt and uncle both work. And my brother's co-worker has the number, but the team is usually on a case. But my brother's in Nevada visiting our mom, the whole team is on vacation."

"What's the number?" Dillon asked

Paris held up the phone so the caller ID was showing as it continued to ring and flash unknown. Taking a deep breath, Paris flipped open the phone, he had to answer it, his curiosity was too much to ignore.

"Hello?" the silence at the other end sent another wave of chills down his back. "Hello?" another second ticked by and Paris was just about to hang up when whoever was on the other end began breathing heavy, reminding Paris of James Earl Jones when he played Darth Vader, this went on for half a minute before he heard the caller take a deep raspy breath

"Take care of thyself young Prince Paris brother of Sir Percival thy quest should not end before it has truly begun, tread carefully...do not succumb to the same fate as thy namesake." as the caller hung up, Paris stared at the phone, confusion was already present, but creeping alongside it was an ever-mounting fear. He snapped the phone shut, trying to maintain his composure as his body began to shake.

Hector and Dillon looked at him curiously and concerned, but Paris didn't want to panic them so he gave a forced grin. His two friends were both much older than him, Dillon was sixteen and Hector Paris's roommate was fifteen, but Paris could see the look in their eyes, that would lead to them getting overprotective of their much younger friend.

"What was that all about?" Dillon asked

"It was either a wrong number or Darth Vader just called me…"

Hector burst out laughing at that

"Great, have him give my number to Yoda…I could use some Jedi mind tricks to pass our calculus exam on Thursday."

Paris looked down at his phone one more time, he didn't understand what was going on, but he knew it was better to shake it off, at least for now. He'd call Spence after dinner and ask him for his advice. Maybe he could get Garcia to run a trace on Paris's phone, check out the number that had just called him.

No…the whole team was supposed to be on vacation. Paris looked at his watch, he couldn't call Spence now, it was only 10:20 in Virginia, it was like 7:20 in Vegas and his brother was supposed to be on vacation, he couldn't bug him.

Instead, Paris looked at Hector and chuckled at his friend's Star Wars obsession, which had taken over most of the dorm room they shared

"Yeah right Hec," Paris replied, "you'll need more than Yoda to save you from that, you'll need the entire Jedi force and Einstein and Beast from the X-men to save your butt." He forced out a chuckle as Dillon laughed loudly, Paris opened his phone and shut it off, he didn't want to deal with it, especially if another phone call could be on its way. He shoved the phone deep into his backpack and joined Dillon's laughter.

"Aw shuddup you guys!" Hector complained as all three continued laughing into the main building.

x-x-x-x

The rest of the day, Paris's attention was on the phone call. He had tried to block it out, tried to focus on his classes, but it kept playing over and over in his mind, like a catchy tune that just won't shut up, that was part of the problem with having a photographic memory as well as an eidetic one. His teachers even commented throughout the day that he seemed distracted and if everything was ok. Because of Paris's young age, his teachers paid extra close attention to him, especially emotionally.

In a freshman class of fourteen and fifteen-year-olds, Paris at eleven was the youngest and the smallest student. One of the major conditions for his enrollment was that he allowed the faculty to frequently check on him.

A half day of classes meant that after lunch he was free to do whatever he wanted, mainly try and calm down from the freaky phone call earlier.

Hector was sprawled out on the floor reading from his calculus book, he looked up when Paris pushed the door open and grinned wide.

"Ah, Luke Skywalker 'sup amigo?"

"Funny Hector, real funny."

"Don't tell me you're still thinking about it?"

"It was weird, I mean for one thing how did this guy get my number?"

"Maybe it was just a wrong number Paris,"

"Hector he called me by name," Paris argued.

"Maybe you should call your brother now?" Paris shook his head "and why not? He's a Fed if anyone can figure out the freak who called you it's the Feds."

"He's in Vegas on vacation, if I call him now, he'll panic and fly back here. I can't do that to him. His whole team is supposed to be on vacation, something they haven't had in a long time. Look if Darth Vader calls again I'll call my brother, but for now, I'm just gonna leave it alone." Paris dumped his backpack out on his bed so his notebooks and textbooks were scattered and walked over to his desk. "I'm going to go down on the lawn and study for a little while, come get me for dinner ok?"

"You sure your ok kid?"

"As ok as I'm going to be," Paris replied, he picked up his calculus book, his magnetic chess set that Spencer's supervisor Gideon had given him, and his headphones and shoved them into his backpack and headed out.

The school sat on the edge of a beautiful grove of trees, Paris had his favorite, a large elm that provided great shade from the sunny September day. Being from Vegas, Paris was used to heat, but the humidity that came with Virginia was something he was still trying to get used to.

He made himself comfortable under the branches as he set up the chess board. He slipped his headphones on and shuffled through his Ipod until Paris found his two Rascal Flats albums. They had been his foster mother's favorite group, she loved them and listening to their music always made Paris feel like Leslie was blasting her favorite songs and singing along with them, it comforted him.

                                                                              

* * *

Up in the main offices, the principal/headmaster of Carlisle School Richard Dowelway was enjoying a peaceful afternoon.

The high school had a half day, because of parent-teacher conferences for the pre-k through eighth graders which would start in just about an hour, giving Mr. Dowelway, a few moments of peace. At least that's what he hoped for until the phone in the main office rang and moments later the school secretary Mrs. Kennedy poked her head into his office.

"Richard?"

"Yes?"

"Dr. Spencer Reid, Paris Reid's brother is on the phone he says it's urgent." Dowelway's eyes went wide. Despite the nearly 500 students the entire school boasted for grades pre-k through 12th, certain students were never far from his mind and Paris Reid was one of them.

"I'll take it in here," Dowelway said before picking up his phone "yes, Dr. Reid?"

"Mr. Dowelway, I'm sorry to disturb you, but this can't wait. I have a couple of agents on their way now to pick Paris up and bring him here to Quantico."

"Agents?"

"Yes,"

"May I ask what is going on?"

"We have a case that is hitting a little to close to the team to avoid concern. The school itself is fine there's no need to be alarmed, but it's pertinent that Paris comes to the BAU. They should be at the school in the next twenty minutes or so."

"Thank you for the heads up, Dr. Reid. You are aware that the high school has a partial day today correct?"

"I saw that."

"Have you tried to contact Paris?"

"Earlier in the day, but he seems to have his phone off."

"Well there are no off-campus events planned for today, and there are no soccer games today. I'm assuming Paris is not planning on going off campus so he should still be on campus. As soon as your agents arrive we will get him and he will be on his way."

"Thank you so much Mr. Dowelway and I apologize again."

"Dr. Reid we were well aware of this type of situation given your profession. Do not apologize. Just please assure me that the school is not in any danger?"

"Absolutely, I understand your concern, but I promise the school is in no danger."

And with that, the two hung up their respective phones.

Dr. Reid was right about the FBI showing up, he was however incorrect about the time. Not five minutes after Dowelway hung up the phone with Dr. Reid. Two FBI agents were standing in his office doorway, Mrs. Kennedy was in between the two.

"Mr. Dowelway? This is Agent Lyons and this is Agent Mitchell, they said they are here to pick up Paris Reid?"

"Yes, yes…" Dowelway said standing up quickly as the two agents showed off their credentials "I just got off the phone with the boy's brother Dr. Reid. I haven't had a chance to inform Paris."

"That's not a problem, if you could just bring us to him, we'll explain everything." Dowelway nodded and slipped on his jacket over his suit.

"This way, we'll check the dorms first."

The dorms were just a five-minute walk from the main offices, but with the FBI on his heels, Dowelway felt he made it in two. As luck would have it, one of the juniors was coming out of the house, library books in his arms.

"Jeffery, is Paris Reid in his room?" Jeffery looked at the two suits standing behind Dowelway. Pretty much everyone knew Paris's older brother was an FBI agent, but no one expected to see two Feds showing up at Carlisle.

"Uh, to be honest sir, I don't know. I haven't seen him today, Hector's in their room, if Paris isn't there, then Hector will know where he is."

"Thank you,"

Inside the boys, house was two levels and a basement. The first level was the family style room, TV, games, full-size kitchen, etc. All the bedrooms were up on the second floor with two boys per room, except the case of the two seniors living in the house who each had their own rooms, the benefits of being seniors.

Trying to maintain his composure, Dowelway knocked on the door. Hector, Paris's roommate and son of a British politician greeted them, a look of surprise on the boy's face.

"Mr. Dowelway? Sir, Everything ok?"

"Hector, where is Paris?"

"He took his bag and headed out, he said he was going to go study on the lawn. He took his iPod he usually only takes that if he's going to study."

"How long ago?"

"About ten minutes, give or take sir," Hector replied as the principal turned and left. Hector looked out into the hall after Dowelway and…two guys in suits. He wondered for a second, had Paris gotten in touch with his brother and if so why were the Feds on campus?

X-X-X-X-X

 

Out on the lawn, under his favorite tree, studying was the last thing on Paris's mind, his calculus book lay open next to him on the grass but he was ignoring it, his headphones were blaring his favorite music, and he was defeating his opponent, AKA himself VIA his chess game. The phone call from the morning was still haunting his memory, but at least he could concentrate on something else.

What he was dreading was his phone back in his room, sitting on his bed, waiting to be turned on and possibly waiting with voicemails from the Darth Vader impersonator.

He would have to restart the phone eventually, he could only put it off for so long, Eric and Lori would want to hear how his day went, Spencer would call him to check in, Janet might text him about chatting online that night, Penelope the Tech with the BAU might want to meet in the virtual world with their avatars. He could only avoid the world for so long.

Paris was so deep in thought, so focused on his chess game, that he didn't hear the footsteps behind him, walking quickly and determined.

Paris took his opponent's knight with his rook and grinned victoriously. At this rate, he would be ready to take on Agent Gideon. He had already beaten Spencer a couple of time, but unlike his brother had yet to beat the senior agent.

Paris nearly had a heart attack when he felt someone tap his shoulder as it was he couldn't help the yelp that escaped him. He took a deep breath and slipped his headphones off. He instantly recognized the suits, not the woman and man, but knew these were FBI, he'd have to check their credentials as Spence had taught him, but he'd bet money on it.

"Paris Reid?"

"Yeah?"

"Agents Mitchell and Lyons, we're from the Southern Virginia field office." Mitchell held out his badge and Paris took it, looking closely at the FBI seal.

"What can I do for you?" Paris asked he glanced over at Mr. Dowelway "is my brother ok?"

"He actually sent us to pick you up."

"Um, if you don't mind me asking, did he say why?

"Dr. Reid said to tell you 'Quoth the Raven' he said you would know what it means." Paris's eyes went wide as he nodded, he slipped his sunglasses off, closed the chess set, and picked up his book and bag.

"Let me get my things from the dorm?"

"Of course, but we have to accompany you understand?"

"Sure thing," Paris said softly,

Agent Lyons gently put a hand on Paris' shoulder as she guided him back to the dorms. Paris's mind was racing as he tried to figure out what the heck was going on and more importantly if his brother was okay.


End file.
